売買: People
by Sonicfries
Summary: When rushing to school one morning, Serena finds herself caught by a Trafficker.. she is boated with several others to America for 'work' that changes her outlook of life and not even going home can help fix it- as manhunt begins to find the missing girls
1. Lured and Caged

I tried to stay true to their personality, Tell me if it works or not.

(This has a serious theme, and all the statistics and information stated in future chapters is based on true findings, so i warn you now that this may shake you a bit--also it explains the high rating.)

I Don't Own anything

売買: People

8:16 a.m.

A blonde girl of about fifteen could be seen running a marathon across the streets of Tokyo to reach her school on time. Her hair was done up in two 'ballet' buns with bits of hair loose around her neck that hung well past her waist, it flew behind her at her speed. She had a pretty face, what you would describe as 'healthy, young, and lively.' People passing by seemed unfazed at her display of tardiness after seeing it on a weekday basis, they'd be more concerned if she wasn't there to bump into them.

She stopped to pause for a breath, standing just right in front of a darkened alleyway. Her skirt in a slight disarray and sweat forming at her brow.

"Hey, can you help me? I can't move." A voice called from inside the alleyway. The girl looked up and turned toward the noise.

"Umm?" She couldn't see anyone. "Hello?"

"Yes you, come over here and help me." It was a boy's voice. A voice that sounded very much younger then her own. "I slipped and fell into this pit of some kind, I think it's for trash." The boy called again. The girl stepped further into the alley, searching for the source of the voice.

"I can't find you." She called out to him.

"I'm over by the fence, further in." the boy called. "I was on my way to school, and I thought I could take a shortcut."

She went further and further, towards the fence that separated the back lots. She could make out a square hole just steps away. When she peered in she could see a boy of about ten, holding his ankle in slight pain.

"Oh! Hold on I'll get you." She put down her case with her schoolbooks, and leaned over the square hole to reach her hand out. The hole itself wasn't deep, but it seemed the boy had wounded his ankle bad enough to where he couldn't move. But as she reached her hand out, the boy wouldn't take it.

"Go on, take my hand." She encouraged, slightly puzzled. "I won't hurt you." But the boy was looking at something behind her, and this didn't catch her eye until the boy smiled somewhat sinisterly.

She was grabbed violently from behind, her mouth covered by a large hand. She struggled to free herself with much fervor, even going as far as biting her captor's hand.

"Ow! You little bitch!" it was a deep voice, and older man. But she couldn't make out anything when she was yanked inside one of the nearby buildings. Her captor held his hands over her eyes and mouth and her legs were snatched and held together by a second figure. They held her up and carried her like a piece of furniture down a flight of stairs, anything that happened afterward was lost on her as she slipped out of consciousness.

3:45 p.m

"I wonder where Serena is." The nasal voice of s short-russet haired girl asked. She and a boy with very large glasses were walking home after school had let out.

"It is strange, normally she's just late not absent all together." The equally nasally boy replied.

"Melvin, you don't think she skipped do you?" Her head was tilted up at the sky, debating where her best friend could have been today.

"Serena would never do that, maybe she's sick." The boy named Melvin said as he looked through his daily planner at his homework assignments. "Besides, it's nice when it's just me and you, Molly." he replied sheepishly and with a false confidence.

"Oh, get over yourself Melvin." Molly said as she turned onto a different route, leaving Melvin without his knowledge--so he continued to chat to an imaginary Molly as he walked away.

Molly had never seen Serena take a sick day, sure the klutz had always been late every day for the last three years of school. But never once had she missed a day without first calling her, telling her that she was ill or a funeral was taking place. Molly knew she had no reason to be worried, but she figured she would stop by her best friend's house none the less. She crossed the midpoint of her travel to Serena's house, the Crown Arcade. Of course she couldn't help but stop in and ask Andrew, the store keeper, if Serena may have came by.

The automatic doors slid open and closed with a "zz". Molly spotted Andrew talking to a girl named Lita, one of Serena's other friends, maybe one of them would know.

"Of course, I'll give you cooking lessons anytime you want." Lita said as they held their conversation.

"Thanks, Rita will be amazed at how good I've gotten." Andrew then turned towards Molly. "Oh Hey Molly, where's your shadow?"

"Serena wasn't at school today." Molly sighed. "I know I shouldn't be worried, I mean it isn't such a big deal but Serena always calls me in the morning when she's sick or something."

"Yea, she wasn't in school today," Lita remembered. "but sickness or not, Serena wouldn't miss a day at the arcade for anything."

"Well, I'm sure she is at home now, resting." Andrew reassured them, leaning on his broom for support. He had his own way of making everyone feel better about anything so Molly thought no more of it.

"I was just on my way to go visit her house now." Molly said, "Did you want to come Lita?"

"Uhh, I guess, I never do homework anyway."

Andrew waved to the girls as they left, and turned his head as another regular customer came through the automatic doors.

"Darien, off of work early?" Andrew asked his best friend as he walked back up to the front counter.

"I went in early." he sounded exhausted and one could hear his bones nearly crack when he sat down in his usual spot at the front counter. "I'm beat, I'm too exhausted to even make the trip back to my apartment." He laid his head down on the counter in defeat. Andrew looked at his friend with smiling sympathy, but not too much because he-himself was still on the clock.

"Well, seems everyone is down and about." Andrew said as he began cleaning the glasses.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Darien barely lifted his head for an answer.

"Molly said Serena didn't show up for school because she is most likely sick." Andrew answered.

"At least she got to stay home." Darien sighed again, sleep was overtaking him. Andrew put down the glass and put both of his hands on the counter, "how about I make you some coffee?"

"I suppose, I have a night class tonight so I'm gonna need it."

Andrew left to go fix the coffee but first turned on the television that hung overhead. Darien barely acknowledged the news anchorman's talking until he said: "missing girls." This popped Darien out of his weariness and caught his full attention as he took the remote and turned the volume up.

"**Four girls are missing, each in separate prefectures. All ranging between the ages of 12 to 21, a mother of one of the missing girls had called in earlier yesterday morning--saying that she had heard of an underground business that may be responsible for these kidnappings. Police are not releasing what kind of business that this pertains to, but are saying that should the lady be correct in her assumption, we will be looking at a….."**

The television was immediately cut off, Darien looked around and seen that Andrew was holding the remote. "I was watching that."

"You need to keep it easy, listening to crime reports won't help."

4:26 p.m.

Lita and Molly went arrived at the front door of the Tsukino residence. It was a modest two story house, with a balcony at the top. Molly knocked on the front door, expecting a sick and melodramatic Serena to answer the door. But when the door opened it only revealed the face of her mother, Mrs. Tsukino.

"Hi, girls. What can I do for you?" She asked with her never-ending cheer.

"We were here to visit Serena, m'am." Lita answered, her hands folded in front of her in respect.

"Well, it seems she hasn't come back from school yet." Mrs. Tsukino said with a laugh, "I figured her afternoon detention ran a little late." This news yanked the two girls into very serious concern. They looked at each other in puzzlement and Molly spoke to the older woman in a tone of worry.

"But, Mrs. Tsukino, Serena never came to school." The mother of two looked at the girls with a frozen look of cheer, as if she had forgotten why she was smiling.

"What do you mean? Serena ran out the door at 8:00 like she does every morning." Ikuko Tsukino said in rising concern.

"She wasn't in any of her classes." Lita responded, the situation wasn't looking good.

"I don't think she would have skipped," Molly said, "She may be lazy but she isn't a delinquent."

Ikuko Tsukino began wringing her hands together, of course she knew Serena would never skip school. And her and her husband had both seen Serena dash out the door this morning, but then apparently she disappeared.

"Should we try Rei's?" Molly asked both of them. "Maybe Serena stopped by there."

"It's worth a try." Lita answered. Both turned around to leave but were stopped by Serena's mother.

" I'm coming with you, I mean I really am worried. And if she is alright I want to wring her neck for skipping school and scaring me to death." She wrung her apron in frustration. "Let me tell my husband all this first."

5:13 p.m.

Rei had been doing her daily chores when the three guests arrived. It caught her by surprise that Mrs. Tsukino would be with the other two, but her questions would be answered very quickly. She walked down the steps to meet them.

"What seems to be the problem?" Rei asked the three before her. They had a worried look in their eyes that didn't feel right to her.

"Have you seen Serena any time today?" Mrs. Tsukino asked the priestess. Rei had thought It rather quiet today, and now she realized why. The worried looks on their faces seemed to get worse when she shook her head.

"Serena left for school this morning, but Molly and Lita said she never made it." Ikuko Tsukino was trying so hard to not let her voice crack. If none of her friends had seen her, this was a bad omen and it was only getting worse.

"Maybe Ami or Mina saw her?" Lita tried to optimize their faces, but it was immediately gone when Rei responded, "They are up in my house studying, they've been here since school let out."

Seeing the negative effect of this sentence, Rei tried to fix it, "But they could have spotted her on the way over, we'll go and ask."

Rei slid the door open and invited the three women inside. True to her words, Ami and Mina were on the floor in the living room studying. The two girls looked up at the new arrivals and caught their aura of concern as soon as they came in.

"You three look like your puppy just died." Mina said as she sat up to acknowledge them. Ami too, set down the large textbook and gave the women her full attention. They caught on easily that something wasn't right.

"They are looking for Meatball head, she apparently left for school but never showed." Rei explained.

"I haven't seen her, I didn't even notice she wasn't there, but it was quieter then normal." Ami claimed.

"Me neither." Mina also answered, again these were not the replies Ikuko Tsukino wanted. The girls looked at each other in anticipation, wondering what they were to do now.

"We should go out and search for her, talk to people around the arcade and such, someone is bound to have seen her." Ami suggested rationally, the other four nodded in agreement.

6:30 p.m --Somewhere near Tokyo's harbor

She began to regain consciousness, her senses kicking back on. It was hot and humid, she could feel the sweat on her face. She felt movement around her, hushed tones and tentative breathing. When she opened her eyes they were met with pitch darkness that took a minute for her to adjust. The smell then hit her full force, urine and feces fumed into her nostrils and nearly made her vomit.

"What happened?" she asked herself. "Where am I?"

Something moved toward her and on instinct she scooted away in fear. Her heartbeat echoing loudly in her chest as a she felt a hand reach out and grab her arm. The hand was sweaty but small, like her own, and didn't have a tight hold. Then she heard their voice reply to her earlier inquires.

"You need to be quiet, we can't make much noise or we will all be punished." It was a girl's voice, slightly older. "You are in a freight container at the harbor, there are fourteen of us in here." the girl whispered. She could feel the girl try to help her up, but as soon as she got on her feet --her legs gave out again.

"Easy, it's just the drug they gave you when they caught you."

"What drug? Caught me? I don't understand…." she was feeling faint, slightly hysteric. She could her other feminine voices but in a different languages.

"You are being trafficked." This time it came from another girl, further away.

A/N: about the school skipping part, I have no right for judgment on the issue. (Considering one year in high school was known as "truancy year" for me and yes I got sent to court so STAY IN SCHOOL.)


	2. Police and Posters

I don't own anything...

Again this is a serious theme, and all information and statisticis on Human Trafficking are taken from actual sources.

売買: People

Chapter Two

6:39 p.m.

She kept quiet like the others as sounds of men's voices were heard outside the freight container. She felt a few of the girls bump into her as they franatically tried to scramble from the opening, the containment door slammed wide as the figures of three men entered. She could see from their silhouettes that there were in fact over a dozen girls inside with her.

"Oi! Don't any of you whores move." a burley man spat out, his features obscured from the lightened background. She could see the second figure holding a stretched cylindrical item that she could identify as a dog bowl, the third man also carried one.

"We brought food and water for all of ya's." both men threw the dog bowls in front of them, water spilled out along with the food contents.

"If I were all of you, I'd eat light--it's going to last for the next two days." The man's voice was scratchy as if he was just overcoming a bad cough. " This here freight will be hauled onto a cargo ship--and you'll be taken to the good ol' U.S of A. there each of you bitches will be sorted into a house of a different city, maybe a few lucky ones will even stay in America, or maybe will ship ya off to Mexico." He and the other two men walked out of the freight and closed the doors in which they opened, the latch locked afterward and the men's voices died away.

Denial first struck her, she couldn't be here. This was some lucid dream that seemed all too real, in no time her mother will wake her up and yell at her for running late for school again. She covered her ears with her hands and closed her eyes tight, rocking back and forth to make this reality die away. Again another hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder with a loose grip, she could picture her mother shaking her awake with an annoyed look and hoped that when she opened her eyes that would be the vision she saw.

But it wasn't.

Girls as young as eleven and no older then twenty five were all around her, they too were huddled in the same position she was in--all trying to wish away this nightmare. Looking toward her disrupter she peered into the face of a girl several years older then her. This girl too, carried the same look in her eyes. The girl spoke to her with careful composure.

"What is your name?" the girl asked in broken english. Her hands feel away from her ears and tried to remember all the little details of her life that at once escaped her out of fear, what was her name.

"Serena." it came out in one breath, the girl next to her nodded in encouragement. The few strays of light that flooded through the freight caught the girl's face, Serena could see that she wasn't Japanese.

"I Klava." She said this time in a rougher dialect. "Русско»she continued.

Serena looked at her clueless. The girl, Klava started speaking in her own language. When she looked around to see if she could get a better view at the girls, she noticed that most of them were of different origins. She could spot a Thai girl in the corner, a Korean, and maybe a few from China. The others were of western decent, or maybe european like the girl in front of her. She couldn't tell in the dying light.

9:34 p.m.

"ma'm we have runaways all the time, they get depressed from school, are bullied, or fed up with work…" the police officer said as he stood outside the Tsukino residence. A call had come in a half hour ago of a missing girl, and not to alarm the parents he had come up with a more 'acceptable' reasoning.

"My baby would never run away!" Ikuko said hysterically crying in her handkerchief with her husband holding her for support. Ikuko Tsukino had looked for hours around the area, calling her daughter's name with no answer, she asked people on the streets but none could say they had ran into her today. Her daughter's friends stood nearby, also worried sick for their friend. Hearing a police officer state that she simply ran away is unthinkable.

"Look, I know how hard it must be for you. We have to wait an extra day before we file a missing persons report."

"HOW HARD IT MUST BE! My daughter has never be unhappy with her life, she didn't runaway!" Ikuko was crying harder now, "FIND HER FOR ME!" The officer looked seriously conflicted. He looked at the teenage girls nearby who also where tearing up with worry for their friend. The husband was holding back his own tears, trying to be strong for his family, at last the officer sighed. He didn't want it to come to this.

"May I come in m'am? I have something to tell you that may be even harder for you to hear." He said this with a much grave tone. "and I suggest the younger ones not hear what I have to tell you." He pointed towards the five worry weeping girls.

"Wait! She's our friend we have a right to know…" Lita protested angrily, but stopped at the sight of Mrs. Tsukino's exhausted face. "Please, why don't all of you head home. Your parents are worried about you, so please don't let them go through what I'm going through." with this Mrs. Tsukino invited the police officer in and closed the door.

Officer Manase was a by the book cop. He always tried to reassure parents that their kids would turn up, they just had a 'runaway phase'. But this incident was sadly different, girls have gone missing throughout the prefectures and this family may have been hit by the same kidnapper. Manase sat down on the Tsukino's couch and tried to compose himself for the silent intellect the police had.

"Now, before I tell you this you must first promise not to disclose it to anyone." Officer Minase said the Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino. The two grief stricken parents nodded in agreement.

"As you've seen on Television there have been several reports about girls missing in several districts." He knew this wasn't the best starting sentence when Mrs. Tsukino seemed to cry even harder. But he had to put all emotions behind him to deliver this frightening news.

"We think an underground business hires people to 'catch' these girls." Mr. Tsukino's face froze-he knew where this was heading, and the thought that his baby girl…

"Catch them for what?" Mr. Tsukino said with anger, but not at the officer, at himself for letting this kind of thing happen to his family. "CATCH THEM FOR WHAT OFFICER?" Mrs. Tsukino stared at her husband in disbelief, he had never raised his voice to anyone. She looked back at the officer to see his grave expression--he would rather be anywhere else then answer this question..

"I believe your daughter may have been taken by sex traffickers." There it was said, but when officer Manase looked at the parents he couldn't register a response.

"Did you hear what I said?" He tried again. Ikuko Tsukino just shook her head slowly, getting faster and faster until her head was shaking violently from left to right-- complete denial.

Officer Manase expected worse, but denying the situation was inevitable. He reached out and took the worry stricken mother's hand, trying to comfort with the little compassion he had.

"I'll need a photo of your daughter, we'll air it on television to further help us. It will also help keep other girls her age on the alert that this is a serial event. Unfortunately it is a topic that many do not realize how often it can happen, about 800,000 women are trafficked into sex houses each year. I'm sad to say that your case may not be different. "

Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino comprehended what they could, the mother unable to communicate through her heart wrenching fright and denial made her husband answer for them.

"We thank you so much, officer, for everything you can do." at that moment there were footfalls on the stairs which brought the three adults head's toward the stairs. A boy of about nine looked at the scene in confusion.

"Who died?" asked Sammy Tsukino, the missing girl's younger brother, at which point Officer Manase decided to take his leave. It was one thing to explain to the parents, another to tell a sibling.

10:05 p.m.

Darien Chiba walked out of his university with tiring footsteps. His exhaustion coming out in waves and a headache threatened to split his head open. Today was a bad day, to say the least. His professor wanted him to write an article of a life changing subject, and add an extra ten pages so he could make it into a thesis. He knew it was his professor's intent of sending his thesis to a college in America, to further his career.

For this Darien was thankful, but the hours made it hard to try and not resent it as well. He walked passed the Arcade, now closed, and noticed Andrew walking around posting papers to telephone posts. Looking at his watch, Darien remembered that Andrew was closing today--so he must have just got out of work. But what struck Darien was the look of worry and determination in Andrew's face as he posted the signs very close together, four in a row and then he would move off just a bit further and post another four side by side. Curious to what his friend was doing Darien walked over.

"You seem very intent of putting up as many as those as possible." Darien said Andrew's back. This caused the blonde boy to turn around in an instant and shove a large pile of posters into Darien's hands. Andrew had a pleading look in his eyes,

"You need to help me, we have to post as many of these around as possible." Andrew said as he swiftly got back to stapling a poster across a restaurant advertisement.

"What did you do, neglect your advertising duties?" Darien asked, amazed at how serious Andrew was at the moment, that was until he beheld the poster's picture. With further inspection Darien realized why Andrew was so intent on putting them up. The smiling face of a girl he would tease everyday looked up at him, her hair up in that signature hairstyle that he would point out and make fun of, the face Serena Tsukino. The word "MISSING" gripped his throat, he looked up at his friend in disbelief.

"What's with this, Andrew?" Andrew looked around at him, unprepared to answer the question. With a big intake of breath he stopped putting up signs and turned toward the dark haired man.

"Earlier today, Serena's mother came by along with all of Serena's friends. She left for school this morning but Molly said she never made it, we searched around town for hours. I used as much of my lunch hour as I could to make these signs," He was frantic in his speaking. "My sister is on the other side of the block posting these up."

Darien looked down again at the stack of sign's in his hands, exhaustion escaped him, he felt a grip in his chest and an overwhelming need to help Andrew with this task. Sure he and Serena never got off on the right foot, but he never felt worry like he did now. Too many possibilities ran into his head, that she was only sleeping in some bookstore after reading her share of manga for the day, or maybe she was walking home after loosing track of a movie as we speak. Darien wasn't naïve to the world, he knew the horrible outcomes that these 'missing' scenarios have. Serena was too innocent to go through any of those horrific scenes, denial of such possibility sank in, he wouldn't think of her going through such a case.

"She could be somewhere and lost track of time…" Darien tried to reason, more to himself then to Andrew.

" For ten hours!" Andrew yelled, he knew this came to a shock to his friend, but he already went over the cases in his head, and nothing made rational sense. Serena was missing by ill causes, not by her clumsy personality. Darien stood there, looking down at the picture of the carefree teen. His mind not processing his friend, not communicating to his surroundings, but focused on the meatball head he loved to irritate. His day could get worse.

11:35 p.m.

Serena didn't eat any of the food they left, she didn't feel hunger. Unlike the other girls who fought each other tooth and nail for the contents, Serena sat in the back of the freight looking blankly ahead. Her cheer had gone, her hair stuck to her sweaty skin due to the humidity, and uncertainty plagued her heart. Where in America would she go? Wasn't America a good country? What was she going to do there? All of this went through her mind with such fervor, she was beginning to get a migraine.

"You not eat?" the Thai girl said in very primitive English, she looked at Serena in question.

"I'm not hungry." Serena replied, her tongue more polished. The Thai girl looked at the food and looked back at her in contemplation. "They have more tomorrow." she tried to comfort when she realized the food was gone in minutes. The girl named Klava also came over, wiping her face from her meal. Sitting down on her other side, Klava laid her head down on Serena's shoulder with unexpected familiarity.

"you'll be okay, they won't touch until you've had serviced." Klava said weakly. The Thai girl nodded, but the meaning of this sentenced escaped Serena's knowledge.

"I don't understand, serviced?" When she said this the Thai girl started to giggle, as did other girls across the room. One of them shouted " Eine Jungfrau", while others snickered. The Thai girl next to her showed her sympathy and said with her broken english.

"You virgin, they sell high if you virgin." The Thai girl said gently. Klava looked up from her spot on Serena's shoulder.

"We all end up in the same situation anyway, you just get out of the 'triply excursions'." She said and sat up properly, "But you are too innocent to be here, that is why we worry for you." some of the girls around her nodded in agreement. Serena looked around at the compassion she was given, but didn't understand why. There were girl's younger then her in there that seemed to give sympathy to her, but what she didn't know was that those said girls had been in this trade for over a year now--and they saw her as the other's did--innocent. It shown in her blue eyes with conviction, it was a shame that she would be robbed of such an ideal way of thinking--like they all did so long ago.

Sometime in the night she fell asleep, and in her dreams she would wake up earlier that day and would be on time for school, avoid the boy in the alley. But when she awoke in cold sweat, she knew that it was her own failing that brought her to this place. Tomorrow, she would be out of reach to anyone who could save her, she would be off to America.


End file.
